My Blog

Adopt a Macaw!
Check out our 32 new animals at WWF’s Online Giving Center! From the colorful macaw to the playful dolphin, there’s a favorite for everyone. Make a symbolic adoption today and support WWF’s efforts to protect endangered wildlife, preserve wildlands, and address global threats and challenges.

Adopt an animal at $50 or more and get a plush likeness of your species!

Barnes & Noble
For 2007, Barnes & Noble has produced 14 different WWF calendars featuring wildlife and wildlands from around the world. WWF receives approximately 3 percent of the retail price of the calendars. And when you make your purchase through the secure WWF Web site, WWF receives an additional 5 percent of the retail price.

Yahoo!
Yahoo! is donating $100,000 to be shared by seven global charitable organizations, including WWF, to celebrate the world’s first collection of electronic anthropology called the Yahoo! Time Capsule. The Time Capsule will create a snapshot of what the Internet–and our world–looks like and means to people today in 2006. Through November 8, 2006 submit words, photos, files, Web pages, blogs, podcasts, videos, and more online at Yahoo! Time Capsule. To thank you for your contribution to the Time Capsule, you’ll be asked to select how Yahoo! should divide the $100,000, so vote for WWF!

© WWF-Canon/Susan A. Mainka

World’s Third Highest Mountain Turned Over to Local Communities
At a ceremony last month, Nepal’s Government turned over conservation of the wildlife and habitats surrounding Kangchenjunga–the world’s third highest mountain–to a coalition of local communities. The Kangchenjunga Conservation Area is known for its rich biodiversity, spectacular scenery and vibrant cultural heritage. Since 1998, WWF has invested $1.5 million in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Project (KCAP), successfully decreasing pressure on local forests while increasing the positive attitude of locals toward wildlife conservation. In addition, wildlife poaching and illegal harvesting of valuable medicinal plants have decreased and committees have been formed to monitor wildlife movement and illegal activities. WWF will continue to support the KCAP for the next five years as part of its Sacred Himalayan Landscape and help to ensure habitats for animals such as the rare red panda.

© WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey

WWF Pledges Amazon Commitment at Clinton Global Initiative
At the Clinton Global Initiative in New York this September, WWF affirmed its commitment to the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) Program, which conserves 193,000 square miles of the Amazon’s richest and most threatened habitats. Using conservative estimates, WWF calculates that ARPA will reduce deforestation by preventing 250 million tons of carbon from being released by the continued forest burning and clearing that would otherwise destroy these irreplaceable habitats, home to such gorgeous birds as the blue-fronted Amazon (pictured above). That equates to keeping approximately 120 million passenger cars off the road for an entire year! WWF pledged to raise $70 million, on top of the $15 million already contributed, over the ten-year duration of the program.

© WWF-Canon/Cat Holloway

Explore Marine Ecoregions of the World
Oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and are home to extraordinary levels of biodiversity. Many parts of these vast bodies of water are still unexplored, and new species are discovered on a regular basis. While it was thought for decades that the resources of the sea were inexhaustible, habitat destruction, overfishing, climate change and pollution now severely threaten marine biodiversity and important fisheries. In an effort to biogeographically classify the world’s coasts and shelves, WWF joined forces with The Nature Conservancy to define Marine Ecoregions of the World. Explore these 229 ecoregions now and discover the broad-scale patterns of species and communities in the oceans.

© WWF/Shaun Martin

Students Contribute to Conservation in Africa
Fifteen outstanding young student environmental leaders traveled from the United States to Pilanesberg National Park and Mankwe Game Reserve in South Africa to participate in field research on the endangered brown hyena. While much of this incredible expedition was spent researching in the bush, the students also visited a wetlands restoration project in Soweto where they discovered the link between social and environmental issues in the developing world and put a human face on poverty. This invaluable experience was part of the new Nissan-WWF Environmental Leadership Program, which also included a $5,000 cash award and an intensive environmental leadership training program in Washington, D.C. One participant, Greg LeFevre, said upon his return to the United States, "The experience has ended physically, but will be woven into my soul, adding texture, color and warmth like the dyed wool threads of a Navajo blanket." This was the first year that Nissan and WWF combined their resources to conduct such a program.